The Navigator 2: We the People (6 page)

Hawklings raised an eyebrow. "You plotted that? I'm impressed, but regulations prohibit the use of navs from untrained Navigators, both Becka and Shana know that."

Joe grinned. "I insisted. I'll take full responsibility."

Hawklings chuckled and nodded. "Okay, I'll handle it. But just be aware that docking control might be a bit short with you folks."

Joe shrugged. "Shit happens; I'm sure they'll get over it."

"Besides, he's not an 'untrained' Navigator anymore, Admiral. Heather Brown certified him before we left BC IV," Symms replied.

Hawklings winced. "I don't know how well that's going to be accepted, considering everything else that's happened. I'll tell you folks about it once you get here. Come up to my office as soon as you land. That includes Captain Darryl; she is being reassigned to you as a dedicated pilot. I'm gonna cut this short for now so I can handle flight control for you. I'll see you when you get here." He smiled at them and ended the call.

"He's under stress, but at least he doesn't appear to be mad at us for anything," Becka replied.

Joe nodded. "No, but there is a pretty major problem. I get the feeling it's something we don't know about yet." He looked at Symms and raised an eyebrow.

Symms nodded. "Yes there is an issue, but you're not on the hook for it. I wish I could tell you more about it, but I gave my word."

Joe nodded in understanding. "Okay Doc, I'll quit nagging you about it since I'm sure the Admiral will tell us shortly. I'll tell Shana about being reassigned; after all it's my fault it happened, so I should be the one to apologize for it."

Joe would have told her right away, but she was busy landing the shuttle. However, she did look at him funny when he asked her to finish up her post-flight duties quickly, as the Admiral had asked to see all of them. She did as he asked and when they left the shuttle, she asked what was going on.

"Shana, I'm sorry. I don't know how to tell you this, but because of me asking for you as a pilot, you've been reassigned to us permanently as a dedicated pilot," Joe explained.

She stopped and stared at him. "I've been what?"

Joe nodded. "Look, I know you liked your job and this is probably going to be a pain…" He had to stop because she had jumped into his arms and was kissing him.

Both Becka and Symms burst out laughing at the look on Joe's face. When Shana finally let him breath again, Becka explained. "Joe, this is a major promotion for her. It means she will never be alone on a trip again, and the work load is much less. I was thinking about telling you, but, well, I knew you'd figure it out eventually."

"It also means she gets a new ship," Symms replied. "One that will be allowed to return to Earth."

"Okay," Joe said, returning Shana's hug. "I didn't think the Navigators had their own pilots."

Becka nodded. "We do, but currently all of them are out on missions to other star systems. Navigator pilots are the elites that get to go on exploration missions." She sighed. "Shana, I know what this means to you, but I don't think that's what the Admiral has in mind for you. I'm pretty sure you’re basically going to be our chauffeur."

"Becka, for me, that would be even better!" Shana said with tears in her eyes. "It means I get to keep friends in my life for longer than a few days!"

Joe looked concerned for her. "Shana, we would always be your friends."

She smiled up at him. "I have no doubt of that, Joe. But under normal circumstances, my work schedule would pretty much keep me from seeing you again unless you happened to be one of my passengers on a routine run."

"I don't understand," Joe said.

"Pilots on the cargo runs, like Shana was, live in space between BC IV and here. The only time they get to spend more than a couple of hours on station is for repairs and maintenance to their ships. Otherwise, they are only on station long enough to be reloaded for their next run," Becka explained.

"That's… criminal!" Joe replied, shocked. "No wonder our cargo pilots are going insane! They would spend more time exposed to hyperspace than we would!"

"What do you mean, Joe?" Symms said suddenly curious.

"Doc, think about this; your researchers lost it with prolonged exposure to the hyperspace 'noise' created by practicing Navigators. Okay, since there is only one hyperspace 'song' during a jump, it doesn't mean the exposure is any less. It only means that the effect is slower in manifesting!" Joe explained. "Repeated back to back jumps by a normal human would mean that 'stress' would simply build up in them. I will grant that the isolation plays a part in this, but I'd be willing to wager the larger culprit is hyperspace."

Symms looked thoughtful as well as concerned. "I never thought of it that way, Major. I promise, as soon as I can, I'll get to work on this. Until I can prove it either way, I'll impose a mandatory twelve-hour layover for all cargo runs. In fact, I'll call my lab and get them working on this right now."

When the group arrived at the Admiral's office, they were shown straight in, something Joe felt was a bad omen.

The Admiral was smiling when they arrived and had them take seats at his conference table. Just as the Admiral was about to get started, Symms stopped him.

"Sir, a moment if you will. The Major pointed something out to me a few minutes ago; something that we overlooked in our threat assessments of hyperspace exposure for our cargo pilots and those repeatedly exposed to hyperspace. I've already got my team back on BC IV working on this, but until we can prove either way that those pilots are safe, I would strongly recommend a twelve-hour minimum layover at each end of a jump. I know that's going to play hell with your cargo schedule, but the sanity and health of our pilots is at stake here."

"Doctor, if you say it's needed, I'll make it happen. You're right, this is going to hurt us in getting cargo moved. The Council will want a full explanation for this policy change. Are you prepared for that?" Hawklings asked surprised at the sudden change.

"I can only give them and you a verbal report for now, Sir. I can also gather some hard data pretty quickly from here. None of us stopped to realize that our cargo pilots spend more time exposed to hyperspace than even a Navigator does. Granted, there is far less distortion involved, but there is always some distortion in every hyper-jump. The possibility exist that this is the reason our pilots are dying," Symms replied.

"Whoa, what?" Becka asked. "Our pilots are dying?"

Hawklings nodded. "Yes, they are. Their minds go first, when we take them out of service to get them help, their health deteriorates pretty quickly after that. Until now, we've been at a loss as to the reasons. It's the main reason for the six-month psych reviews for all pilots." He paused. "Okay, get what data you can, Lenard. We'll brief the Council tomorrow." He turned to Shana.

"Captain Darryl, effective immediately, you are permanently reassigned to the Navigators as a pilot. You are exempted from exploration duty and charged with the sole responsibility of providing transportation for the Citadel leadership. This promotion includes an advancement in rank to Senior Pilot. I have already put in the request with the Canadian Air Force for your official promotion to the rank of Major," Hawklings explained.

"I understand, Sir, thank you," Shana replied grinning.

Hawklings smiled back at her. "The jobs not all roses, Shana; there's a reason we picked you for this. Also effective immediately is the increase in your security clearance. There is a better than average chance you will hear or see things that are classified. The information about your fellow pilots is one such example."

Shana's grin faded and she nodded. "I understand, Sir, I even understand the need for classifying it."

Hawklings nodded. "Good, now, before we get to the heart of what I need to talk to you all about, does anyone want a drink or maybe a snack?"

As he rose to get the coffee, Hawkling's aide beeped his intercom. "Please excuse the interruption Admiral, but Doctor Ortegon is out here and he's very excited about something. He says it won't take long and it's very important."

Hawklings sighed. "Okay, let him in."

The doctor entered the office and smiled at the Admiral. "I am very sorry for the brief interruption, Admiral. However, this is important."

"What can we do for you Haviar?" Hawklings asked, grinning at the man's exuberance.

The broadly smiling doctor winked at the Admiral and turned to the table. He walked up to Becka, bent and kissed her cheek. He then pinned a small pink ribbon to her lapel. "Congratulations, Navigator." He then moved over and shook Joe's hand. "Congratulations, Major."

He turned back to the Admiral. "I thought it best to notify them as soon as possible."

"But…" Joe said "How can you know this quickly?"

"The nano's, Major. They reported her condition as soon as they contacted the station computers," Haviar replied. He again turned to a stunned looking Becka. "Please come by the medical center before you depart the station so we can do a full work-up and program for the next nine months. After the child is born, we will make adjustments as necessary."

"Uh, yeah, I'll stop by before we go anywhere, Doctor," Becka said as tears began to form in her eyes and she began to smile. She looked at Joe, hopefully.

Joe smiled and winked at her.

"Now that I have performed that happy duty, I will leave you. Thank you for allowing me to do this, Admiral," Haviar replied as he made his way to the door.

Hawklings shook his hand. "Thank you for coming up here to tell us in person, Havier."

As the man left, congratulations were given to the two now expecting parents. The rest of the group got drinks as well and they settled down again at the table.

"This happy news is a good lead-in to one of the things I need to discuss with you," Hawklings began. "With the Citadel gone, we have several dozen homeless Navigators. Do you have any ideas what to do about that, Major?"

"As a matter of fact I do, Sir," Joe replied. "I would like to see a new facility built for us. This time on a planet or moon. I had BC IV's green moon in mind for it, but it doesn't have to be there. We could just as easily build it on BC IV, like in the place where Becka and I went to get used to my new toys. That's far from any habitation, the land is arid and desert-like which is poor for farming and ranching and unlikely to be needed for anything else. We could build a community for the gifted to live and raise our children while still controlling interaction with the outside world," Joe began.

"If you remember the discussion we had about preparing for the emergence of other gifts and abilities in the gifted, this would be a part of that preparation. With the development of Dr. Symm's new shielding, we should be able to limit the noise and distortion from practicing Navigators while still allowing the study and understanding of these new abilities in a controlled environment that is still as close to normal as we can get." He paused. "Which reminds me, The Citadel was a small station and there were no children there. Where are they?"

"There is a special community on planet that raises them as foster children. The mothers are free to visit as time and duties allow. It's not the ideal situation, but it's as close as we can get for the time being," Hawklings replied.

"I think I might have a better idea," Joe replied. "We include the foster families as part of the community; it'll give us more time with our children and should improve the morale of the Navigators as well. I know it would mean a great deal to me."

"I'll accept any and all suggestions, Major, you should know that by now!" Hawklings said grinning.

"Another consideration would have to be security," Joe explained. "Eventually, that will be a consideration for us. It would give us a safe place to call home where we can raise our own children, and it would help to keep us grounded by working a 'normal' job. If the shielding works well, there is no reason we couldn't treat it almost like a military base; allow a small parasite town to cater to our needs, but still control access to the base itself. With the shielding, and the mass of the planet, the problems of the early days should be negated.

"Call me old fashioned I guess, but I feel that our children, especially if they are gifted, should be raised by their parents. I'm sure that the foster parents are doing a great job, but as soon as those kids start manifesting their talent, they could have serious problems. It would be good if they had parents there that have gone through it and can help get them ready for it," Joe explained and shrugged. "Or counter it if it becomes necessary."

Hawklings winced. "Yeah, we've already run into that a couple of times. One young man tried to do the same thing Jarad was doing on The Citadel. By the time a Navigator got back there to see her children, he already had three of the foster mothers pregnant and had all the men set up as guards. He'd turned the entire enclave into his own private harem. It was a mess; we had to bring in counselors and psychologists. Luckily, he hadn't been attracted to the really young ones. Now we make sure a Navigator visits the compound at least every two weeks, but the problems are starting. That's the reason I was so interested in your theory about Navigators developing more abilities; it's already starting."